Last week, on 29 February, EBC was invited by the UK Mission to the European Union to discuss Green Skills. Following a keynote presentation from the OECD, the event was structured around brainstorming workshops, exploring and sharing knowledge from the side of both skills providers and businesses.
In a stimulating opening intervention, Ms El Iza Mohamedou, Head of the OECD Centre for Skills, shared the organisation’s perspective on “Meeting the Challenges & Opportunities of Renewable Energy and Sustainable Construction.” She made the link between the ongoing climate challenges and transitions and the reality of work environments across OECD member countries and beyond. Summing up, she identified five steps towards a responsible and successful green skills transition: Career guidance for green sector opportunities; Access to education for rural workers; Promoting work-based learning in the private sector; Integration of green education into curricula; and International collaboration for green skills development.
Then, stakeholders from across the EU and the UK shared experiences on the challenges, needs and opportunities ahead, and exchanged on best practices that can help shape the skills of the future. The first round of exchanges focused on designing skills programmes to fit the needs of the green economy, whereas the second round explored how to increase participation in skills programmes for green jobs.
It turns out that the EU and the UK face very similar challenges pursuant to the skills transition, including in the construction sector: the fragmentation of skills providers, a traditional educatory approach that places vocational and technical education as a “last resort” option, or a low attractivity and social recognition for craft or vocational careers represent important barriers to the necessary uptake of such professional paths by young people or active workers. Nevertheless, the green transition offers significant opportunities for fulfilling and meaningful professional paths, and the collaboration of all stakeholders is key in ensuring these are visible and appealing
EBC remains dedicated to actively contributing to improving the skills situation in the construction sector and exploring new ways to attract new talent, reskill and upskill the workforce. This will not only help deliver on the green and digital transition of construction SMEs and crafts but will also allow to implement the ambitions of the Renovation Wave and the EU Green Deal for a sustainable building stock by 2050.
 | To visit the webpage of the Centre for Skills of the OECD, click here |